System and method of bale collection

ABSTRACT

A system comprises a mobile machine ( 14 ) for collecting a plurality of bales ( 10,12 ) dispersed across a ground surface and one or more computing devices. The one or more computing devices are configured to receive location and orientation information for the plurality of bales ( 10,12 ), the location and orientation information including a location and an orientation of each of the bales ( 10,12 ), automatically determine a preferred path for collecting the bales using the location and orientation information, and present information about the preferred path to an operator of the mobile machine ( 14 ).

FIELD

Embodiments of the present invention relate to systems and methods forcollecting bales. More particularly, embodiments of the presentinvention relate to systems and methods for optimizing the collection ofagricultural bales dispersed across a ground surface.

BACKGROUND

Hay and forage crops are typically harvested by cutting the crops,allowing the crops to lie on the ground to dry, and then baling thedried crop. The baling process involves using balers to collect the cropfrom the ground as the balers travel along the ground, form the cropinto a bale, tie or wrap the bale to preserve the bale's shape and/orprotect it from the elements, and then place the bale onto the ground.The bales may be placed on the ground as they are formed in the balersuch that a plurality of bales are placed randomly in a field. To use ortransport the bales, or to clear the field in which the bales wereplaced, the bales must be collected. Often, bales are removed from afield and placed in a stack at an edge of the field until they are usedor transported to another location.

The above section provides background information related to the presentdisclosure which is not necessarily prior art.

SUMMARY

A system in accordance with a first embodiment of the inventioncomprises a mobile machine for collecting a plurality of bales dispersedacross a ground surface, and one or more computing devices. The one ormore computing devices are configured to receive location andorientation information for the plurality of bales, the location andorientation information including a location and an orientation of eachof the bales. The one or more computing devices are further configuredto automatically determine a preferred path for collecting the balesusing the location and orientation information and present informationabout the preferred path to an operator of the mobile machine.

A system in accordance with another embodiment of the inventioncomprises a mobile machine for collecting bales dispersed across aground surface, and one or more computing devices. The one or morecomputing devices are configured to receive location and orientationinformation for a plurality of bales dispersed across a ground surfaceof a field, the location and orientation information including alocation and an orientation of each of the bales. The one or morecomputing devices are further configured to automatically determine apreferred path for collecting a number of the bales using the locationand orientation information and a stacking location of the bales, thenumber of the bales being a subset of all of the plurality of bales, andpresent information about the preferred path to an operator of themobile machine.

A system in accordance with another embodiment of the inventioncomprises a mobile machine for collecting a plurality of bales dispersedacross a ground surface, and one or more computing devices. The one ormore computing devices are configured to receive location andorientation information for the plurality of bales, the location andorientation information including a location and an orientation of eachof the bales. The one or more computing devices are further configuredto automatically determine a preferred path for collecting the balesusing the location and orientation information and automatically guidethe mobile machine along the preferred path.

A method in accordance with another embodiment of the inventioncomprises receiving, via one or more computing devices associated with amobile machine for collecting a plurality of bales dispersed across aground surface, location and orientation information for the pluralityof bales, the location and orientation information including a locationand an orientation of each of the bales. The method further comprisesautomatically determining a preferred path for collecting the balesusing the location and orientation information and presentinginformation about the preferred path to an operator of the mobilemachine.

These and other important aspects of the present invention are describedmore fully in the detailed description below. The invention is notlimited to the particular methods and systems described herein. Otherembodiments may be used and/or changes to the described embodiments maybe made without departing from the scope of the claims that follow thedetailed description.

DRAWINGS

Embodiments of the present invention are described in detail below withreference to the attached drawing figures, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a plurality of rectangular bales ofagricultural product placed on the ground surface of a field.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a plurality of round bales ofagricultural product placed on the ground surface of a field.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a plurality of bales of agricultural productplaced on the ground surface of a field.

FIG. 4 illustrates a mobile machine for collecting and stackingrectangular bales.

FIG. 5 illustrates a stack of rectangular bales.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of an exemplary communications and controlsystem used in the machine of FIG. 4.

FIG. 7 is a diagram of a bale illustrating first and second axes of thebale.

FIG. 8 illustrate an exemplary travel path a machine may follow whencollecting the bale of FIG. 7.

FIG. 9 illustrates a pair of bales and a bale collection machine'stravel path constrained by a minimum turning radius associated with themachine.

FIG. 10 illustrates a pair of bales and a bale collection machine'stravel path constrained by a travel path profile associated with themachine.

FIGS. 11-12 illustrate a bale on a ground surface defined bytopographical indicators, and an exemplary travel path for collectingthe bale.

FIGS. 13-14 illustrate a field with a plurality of bales and variousboundaries limiting the travel of a bale collection machine.

FIGS. 15-24 illustrate path segments for collecting bales.

FIG. 25 is a flow diagram illustrating an exemplary method ofdetermining a preferred travel path for collecting a plurality of balesdispersed across the ground surface of a field.

FIGS. 26-38 and 40-41 illustrate a plurality of bales in a field andvarious path segments that may be used to collect the bales according tothe method depicted in FIG. 25.

FIGS. 39 and 42 illustrate path information stored in exemplary datatables.

FIGS. 43-45 illustrate a plurality of bales in a field and various pathsegments that may be used to collect the bales according to a methodthat involves collecting bales on both a front and a rear of a balecollection machine.

FIG. 46 is a flow diagram illustrating an exemplary method ofdetermining a preferred bale collection plan for a large number of balesin a field.

FIGS. 47-48 illustrate a plurality of bales in a field and variousgroupings of the bales for use in the method illustrated in FIG. 46.

FIG. 49 illustrates a plurality of bales in a field and varioussuggested bale stack locations that may be used to automaticallydetermine a preferred bale stack location.

FIG. 50, illustrates a plurality of bales in a field and a suggestedbale stack region that may be used to automatically determine apreferred bale stack location.

FIG. 51 is the field of FIG. 50, including various obstacles in thesuggested bale stack region that limit where a bale stack may belocated.

The drawing figures do not limit the present invention to the specificembodiments disclosed and described herein. The drawings are notnecessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon clearlyillustrating the principles of the invention.

DESCRIPTION

The following detailed description of embodiments of the inventionreferences the accompanying drawings. The embodiments are intended todescribe aspects of the invention in sufficient detail to enable thoseskilled in the art to practice the invention. Other embodiments can beutilized and changes can be made without departing from the scope of theclaims. The following description is, therefore, not to be taken in alimiting sense.

In this description, references to “one embodiment”, “an embodiment”, or“embodiments” mean that the feature or features being referred to areincluded in at least one embodiment of the technology. Separatereferences to “one embodiment”, “an embodiment”, or “embodiments” inthis description do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment and arealso not mutually exclusive unless so stated and/or except as will bereadily apparent to those skilled in the art from the description. Forexample, a feature, structure, act, etcetera described in one embodimentmay also be included in other embodiments, but is not necessarilyincluded. Thus, the present technology can include a variety ofcombinations and/or integrations of the embodiments described herein.

Embodiments of the invention relate to systems and methods forcollecting bales in a manner that optimizes the bale collection process.The bales may be agricultural bales, such as rectangular bales 10 of hayor straw as illustrated in FIG. 1 or round bales 12 of hay or straw asillustrated in FIG. 2, that are formed by a baling machine and placed atvarious locations in the field during a harvesting process. Theharvesting process may result in a large number of bales scatteredacross a relatively large area, as illustrated in FIG. 3. There may be,for example, several hundred bales dispersed randomly across a field.

After the baling process producers may collect the bales from the fieldand stack them in a single location in the field (or other location). Abale collection machine, such as the bale stacker 14 illustrated in FIG.4, may be used to collect, transport and stack the bales. The balestacker 14 is operable to pick bales up from a ground surface, carry aplurality of collected bales, and then place the collected bales in astack at a desired stacking location. Multiple loads of bales may beplaced in a single stacking location to create a single, large stack 16as illustrated in FIG. 5. The bale stacker 14 is one example of a balecollection machine that may be used to implement embodiments of thepresent invention. Other examples of bale collection machines usefulwith the present invention may collect round bales, or may be pulled bya tractor rather than being self-propelled.

Certain aspects of the present invention may be implemented by or withthe assistance of an electronic system, such as a control andcommunications system associated with the bale stacker 14 illustrated inFIG. 4 or other bale collection machine. Various components of anexemplary control and communication system 18 are illustrated in FIG. 6.The system 18 broadly includes a controller 20, a position determiningdevice 22, a user interface 24, one or more sensors 26, one or moreactuators 28, one or more storage components 30, one or more input/outports 32 and a gateway 34.

The position determining device 22 may include a global navigationsatellite system (GNSS) receiver, such as a device configured to receivesignals from one or more positioning systems such as the United States'global positioning system (GPS), the European GALILEO system and/or theRussian GLONASS system, and to determine a location of the machine usingthe received signals. The user interface 24 includes components forreceiving information, instructions or other input from a user and mayinclude buttons, switches, dials, and microphones, as well as componentsfor presenting information or data to users, such as displays,light-emitting diodes, audio speakers and so forth. The user interface24 may include one or more touchscreen displays capable of presentingvisual representations of information or data and receiving instructionsor input from the user via a single display surface.

The sensors 26 may be associated with any of various components orfunctions of an associated machine including, for example, variouselements of the engine, transmission(s), and hydraulic and electricalsystems. One or more of the sensors 26 may be configured and placed todetect environmental or ambient conditions in, around or near a machinewith which the system 18 is associated. Such environmental or ambientconditions may include temperature, humidity, wind speed and winddirection. The actuators 28 are configured and placed to drive certainfunctions of the machine including, for example, steering when anautomated guidance function is engaged. The actuators 28 may takevirtually any form but are generally configured to receive controlsignals or instructions from the controller 20 (or other component ofthe system) and to generate a mechanical movement or action in responseto the control signals or instructions. By way of example, the sensors26 and actuators 28 may be used in automated steering of a machinewherein the sensors 26 detect a current position or state of steeredwheels or tracks and the actuators 28 drive steering action or operationof the wheels or tracks. In another example, the sensors 26 collect datarelating to the operation of the machine and store the data in thestorage component 30, communicate the data to a remote computing devicevia the gateway 34, or both.

The controller 20 includes one or more integrated circuits programmed orconfigured to implement the functions described herein. By way ofexample the controller 20 may be a digital controller and may includeone or more general purpose microprocessors or microcontrollers,programmable logic devices, or application specific integrated circuits.The controller 20 may include multiple computing components placed invarious different locations on the machine. The controller 20 may alsoinclude one or more discrete and/or analog circuit components operatingin conjunction with the one or more integrated circuits or computingcomponents. Furthermore, the controller 20 may include or have access toone or more memory elements operable to store executable instructions,data, or both. The storage component 30 stores data and preferablyincludes a non-volatile storage medium such as optic, magnetic or solidstate technology.

It will be appreciated that, for simplicity, certain elements andcomponents of the system 18 have been omitted from the presentdiscussion and from the drawing of FIG. 6. A power source or powerconnector is also associated with the system, for example, but isconventional in nature and, therefore, is not discussed herein.

In some embodiments, all of the components of the system 18 arecontained on or in a single host machine. The present invention is notso limited, however, and in other embodiments one or more of thecomponents of the system 18 may be external to the machine. In oneembodiment, for example, some of the components of the system 18 arecontained on or in a host machine while other components of the system18 are contained on or in an implement associated with the host machine.In that embodiment, the components associated with the machine and thecomponents associated with the implement may communicate via wired orwireless communications according to a local area network such as, forexample, a controller area network. The system 18 may be part of acommunications and control system conforming to the ISO 11783 (alsoreferred to as “ISOBUS”) standard. In yet another embodiment, one ormore components of the system 18 may be located remotely from themachine and any implements associated with the machine. In thatembodiment, the system 18 may include wireless communications components(e.g., the gateway) for enabling the machine to communicate with aremote computer, computer network or system. It may be desirable, forexample, to use one or more computing devices external to the machine todetermine, or assist in determining, a preferred travel path forcollecting a plurality of bales, as explained herein.

Depending on the type of machine that is used to collect the bales,where the bales are positioned and the nature of the environment wherethe bales are to be collected, various collection constraints may limithow a bale collection machine operates to collect the bales and,therefore, may limit the paths the machine may follow to collect thebales. Examples of collection constraints include the orientation of thebale when it is collected, the minimum turning radius of the machine,the machine travel path profile, terrain surface characteristics, andtravel boundaries. Bale orientation may be a constraint if the machinemust engage the bale in line with a particular orientation. Withreference to FIG. 7, a bale 36 presents a first axis 38 and a secondaxis 40. If the bale 36 is a rectangular bale, the machine may need toengage a broad side of the bale 36 when collecting the bale 36 or, inother words, engage the bale 36 while moving in a direction parallelwith the first axis 38. If the bale 36 is a round bale, the machine mayneed to engage a flat face of the bale 36. With reference to FIG. 8,exemplary path segments 42, 44 illustrate a path a machine may followwhen collecting the bale 36, wherein the machine either engages side 46or side 48. Bale orientation may not be a collection constraint if, forexample, the machine is configured to push a bale into the properorientation before fully engaging it.

The minimum turning radius of a bale collection machine may also limithow the machine collects the bales. The curved portions of the pathsegments 42, 44 in FIG. 8 may represent the minimum turning radius ofthe machine. If a second bale 50 is located in close proximity to thefirst bale 36, as illustrated in FIG. 9, the minimum turning radius ofthe machine may render the shortest or most direct travel path segmentbetween the first bale and the second bale impossible to use whencollecting the bale. As illustrated in FIG. 9, after collecting thefirst bale 36 in the direction of the arrows the machine makes a sharpturn in an attempt to collect the second bale 50, but the machine'sminimum turning radius causes the machine to overshoot the second bale.In that situation any travel path segment leading directly from thefirst bale 36 to the second bale 50 would have to be lengthened to allowthe machine to make the turn and properly engage the second bale 50.Thus, if bale orientation is a collection constraint, the travel pathsegment 52 may need to be adjusted or lengthened to properly positionthe machine in line with the bale 50 at the necessary orientation.

The machine travel path profile includes the width of a bale collectionmachine's travel path that may come into contact with a bale, tree,fence or other obstacle as the machine travels through a field. Themachine's travel path profile is at least as wide as the machine'swheels or tracks but may be even wider if portions of the machine extendforwardly, rearwardly and/or latterly beyond the wheels. An example ofhow a machine's travel path profile might limit how the machine collectsbales is illustrated in FIG. 10. The dashed lines 54, 56 illustrate thearea covered by the machine as the machine travels along the ground,such that any object located inside the lines 54, 56 would contact themachine. In this instance the machine's travel path profile is widerthan the bale 58 collected by the machine, and may correspond to thewidth of the machine's wheels and/or other portions of the machine, asexplained above. The machine collects a first bale 58 but cannot collecta second bale 60, either because the second bale 60 is not in the properorientation relative to the direction of travel of the machine orbecause the machine has reached its capacity. The machine operator mayattempt to turn the machine to avoid the second bale 60 but at least aportion of the machine would collide with the second bale 60, asillustrated. Thus, when planning a bale collection path that avoidsreversing the machine's direction (in other words, stopping and backingup the machine), this particular path segment would not be used.Alternatively, the second bale 60 may be collected before the first bale58.

The travel path profile depends on such things as the footprint of abale collection machine's wheels or tracks, the machine's turning radiusand the overall size and shape of the machine. Thus, the travel pathprofile will typically be different for different machines and may begenerated by the machine manufacturer for use by a computing device whendetermining a preferred bale collection path. If the machine includes aside arm or other laterally-extending component, for example, the travelpath profile may be substantially wider than the width of one of thebales and may represent an even greater limitation on the travel paththan what is illustrated in FIG. 10.

Terrain characteristics may also limit how a bale collection machinecollects bales. By way of example, the machine may be more effective atengaging and collecting bales when travelling upward on a slope thanwhen travelling downward on a slope. In that situation information aboutthe terrain may be used to avoid creating a travel path segment thatrequires the machine to collect a bale on a downward slope (or othersurface terrain) that is beyond the machine's capabilities or otherwisepresents a problem. By way of example, if a bale is on a ground surfacethat slopes at a grade beyond a designated threshold, a bale collectionpath may be used that requires the machine to collect the bale whiletravelling uphill on the surface rather than downhill.

A portion of a field 62 with a bale 64 and surface terraincharacteristics is illustrated in FIG. 11, including contour lines 66showing surface elevation changes. Each contour line 66 represents asurface elevation and lines closer to the bottom of the drawingrepresent lower elevations than lines closer to the top of the drawing,such that a machine travelling from a location near the top of thefigure to a location near the bottom of the figure would be travellingdownhill.

With reference to FIG. 12, if the machine engages the bale 64 from afirst side 68 the machine will be travelling downhill, while if themachine engages the bale from a second side 70 the machine will betravelling uphill. If the machine is better suited for collecting balesalong an uphill slope than along a downhill slope, any travel pathsegments that require the machine to collect the bale from the firstside 68 may be avoided when planning a bale collection path. Terrainslope may only be an issue when it exceeds a predetermined thresholdgrade, such that a method of planning a bale collection path may involvedetermining whether the slope exceeds the predetermined threshold gradeand, if so, avoiding any travel path segments that require the machineto collect the bale along an unfavorable slope. Surface terraininformation for a field where bales are to be collected may be includedin a file stored in computer memory or otherwise available to orcommunicated to a computing device used to determine a preferred balecollection path.

Machine travel boundaries may also be a bale collection constraint. Afield 72 including a plurality of bales 74 and various travel boundariesis illustrated in FIG. 13. A first boundary defined by line 76 mayoutline an area including trees, a body of water, a ravine or otherobstacle or field condition that is unsuitable for operation of themachine. Other boundaries defined by lines 78 and 80 may correspond to afence, a road, a tree line and/or other physical boundary. Planning abale collection path for the field 72 would be constrained in that noneof the path segments would cross any of the boundary lines 76, 78, 80.Furthermore, and with reference to FIG. 14, one or more buffer zones 82may be associated with the boundary lines 76, 78, 80. A method ofdetermining a preferred bale collection path may involve avoidingplacing any travel path segments within a buffer zone 82. Boundary linesand buffer zones may be predetermined and stored in a computer-usablestorage system, or may be defined by a machine operator and submitted,for example, via the user interface 24.

FIGS. 15 through 19 illustrate examples of travel paths and pathsegments used by a bale collection machine to collect bales wherein thepath definition is constrained by the requirement that the machineengage each bale according to a particular bale orientation. Withinitial reference to FIG. 15, an exemplary portion of a field isillustrated including a plurality of bales 84, a designated stackinglocation 86 for the collected bales and a current location 88 of themachine. In this example the bales 84 are rectangular bales and themachine collects each bale by engaging the bale at a front of themachine when the machine is travelling in a forward direction that isperpendicular (or nearly perpendicular) to a longitudinal axis of thebale. In other words, the machine must collect each bale by engaging thebroad side of the bale rather than the narrow side. It will beappreciated, however, that the bales 84 may be round bales and the sameprinciples may apply, wherein the machine collects each bale by engagingthe bale when the machine is travelling in a direction that isperpendicular (or nearly perpendicular) to a flat face of the bale.

The machine collects a first bale 84 a as it engages the bale 84 a alonga first path segment 90, wherein the machine picks up the bale 84 a andproceeds to a second bale 84 b. Because the machine must collect thebale 84 b by engaging a broad side as described above, path segment 92is not an option for travel from bale 84 a to bale 84 b, but a secondpossible path segment 94 is a viable option. Another path segment 96 maybe an option, but is not selected as part of this travel path. Themachine may follow the complete path illustrated in FIG. 16 to collect afull load of six bales, wherein the path comprises six path segments 90,94, 98, 100, 102 and 104, and a return path segment 106 from the lastbale to the bale stack location 86. As can be seen, the bale collectionpath of the machine intersects each of the bales 84 in line with therequired orientation. An unused travel path segment 108 would haveresulted in a shorter overall bale collection path, but would not haveallowed the machine to engage the bale 84 f at the proper orientationand therefore could not have been used as part of the collection path.If bale orientation were not a constraint, that path segment 108 mayhave been used.

FIGS. 17-19 each illustrate a different possible travel path forcollecting six bales from the same plurality of bales illustrated inFIG. 15, wherein each travel path is different than the others butconforms to the same constraint as the path illustrated in FIG. 15,namely, the machine must engage each bale according to the particularorientation as described above.

Another possible constraint associated with the machine's travel pathwhile collecting bales may be the machine's minimum turning radius, asexplained above. A first exemplary travel path constrained only by themachine's minimum turning radius is illustrated in FIG. 20. A minimumturning radius R associated with the bale collection machine is depictedin the drawing. No segment of the overall travel path can have a radiusof curvature less than R. In this scenario the minimum turning radius isthe only constraint, such that the travel path intersects the bales atvarious angles without regard to bale orientation. From the startingposition a first segment 110 leads to a first bale 84 a and a secondpath segment 112 leads from the first bale 84 a to a second bale 84 b. Apath segment 114 leading from the second bale 84 b to a possible thirdbale 84 c is not viable because the minimum turning radius of themachine would cause it to overshoot the bale 84 c. Each of the remainingpath segments includes turns with radii no smaller than the minimum turnradius R. Another exemplary bale collection path constrained only by theminimum turning radius is illustrated in FIG. 21.

While FIGS. 15-21 illustrate exemplary paths constrained by baleorientation and a machine's minimum turning radius, it will beappreciated that any combination of constraints may be used to definethe bale collection path. An exemplary travel path with both baleorientation and minimum turning radius constraints is illustrated inFIGS. 22 and 23. In FIG. 22 after collecting a first bale 84 c, themachine could not take the shortest path segment to either bale 84 f orbale 84 d because, while the machine could engage either of the baleswhile following the minimum turning radius, it would not be engagingeither bale according to the proper orientation. Similarly, aftercollecting a second bale 84 e the minimum turning radius would allow themachine to engage bale 84 g, but not at the correct orientation.Therefore the bale 84 g is not collected after the second bale.

Another possible travel path for collecting the bales constrained byboth a minimum turning radius and bale orientation is illustrated inFIG. 23. Potential travel path segments 114 and 116 are not viableoptions because the minimum turning radius is too large, the machinewould not engage the corresponding bale according to the properorientation, or both. Potential travel path 118 would allow the machineto engage bale 84 h according to the proper orientation, but themachine's minimum turning radius would prevent the machine from avoidingthe bale 84 i. It is assumed in this example that the bale collectionmachine holds six bales and the method avoids stopping and backing upthe bale collection machine, such that after the machine collects bale84 h it cannot simply collect the next bale 84 i. Because the machine'sminimum turning radius would prevent it from collecting bale 84 i, pathsegment 118 is not used.

FIG. 24 illustrates exemplary travel path segments where a balecollection machine's travel path profile is a constraint. A firstsegment 120 could not be used because the machine may collide with bale84 d while travelling between bale 84 c and bale 84 e. Similarly, asecond segment 122 may result in the machine colliding with (orcrossing) a boundary when attempting to collect bale 84 j, assuming themachine's minimum turning radius prevents it from turning sharply enoughto avoid the boundary.

As mentioned above, embodiments of the present invention include systemsand methods for automatically selecting one or more preferred travelpaths for collecting a plurality of bales dispersed across a groundsurface, such as a plurality of bales of hay or straw dispersedthroughout a field. By way of example, one or more computing devices,such as the controller 20, may be programmed or configured to perform amethod of identifying a preferred path for collecting the bales. Themethod of identifying the preferred path may take into account thelocation and orientation of the bales to be collected, the total numberof bales that can be carried by the bale collection machine, and mayalso take into account any collection constraints such as limitationsassociated with bale orientation, a machine's travel path profile, amachine's minimum turning radius, ground surface characteristics,geographic boundaries, or any combination of these constraints, asexplained above. Furthermore, these collection constraints are exemplaryin nature and the use of other constraints is within the ambit of thepresent invention. The present method is described herein as beingperformed by “a computing device” with the understanding that it may beperformed by one or more computing devices that are part of and/orexternal to a machine's communication and control system, includingcomputing devices that may be located remotely from the machine.

Selecting a preferred travel path may include identifying a travel paththat is the shortest and/or the fastest path for collecting a number ofthe bales. One method of identifying a shortest or fastest path involvesidentifying all possible travel paths, comparing the length of each ofthe paths or an estimated travel time for each of the paths, andselecting the path with the shortest length or shortest estimated traveltime. This approach may be practical if the total number of possibletravel paths is relatively small. As the number of bales to be collectedincreases, however, the number of possible travel paths for collectingall of the bales increases exponentially and can quickly become toolarge for even relatively powerful computers to analyze in a timelymanner. Thus, in some situations comparing every possible travel pathwith every other possible travel path to identify the single best pathmay be impractical or even impossible given the limitations of computingresources available to the system. In those situations the computingdevice may use one or more methods to identify a preferred travel paththat is an estimate or approximation of a best travel path, but notnecessarily the shortest, fastest, etcetera.

FIG. 25 is a flow diagram illustrating an exemplary method 124 ofidentifying a preferred travel path for collecting a plurality of bales.The exemplary method 124 illustrated in FIG. 25 involves identifying apreferred travel path for collecting six bales from a plurality of balesrandomly dispersed across a ground surface. In this example six balesare collected at a time, which may be a limitation if, for example, thebale collection machine has a six-bale capacity. FIG. 26 illustrates anexemplary scenario in which a plurality of bales are identified forcollection. The bales illustrated in FIG. 26 may represent all of thebales to be collected, or may be a subset of a larger number of bales,as explained below.

The method 124 depicted by the flow diagram in FIG. 25 uses the startingpoint 88 where the bale collection path begins and the bale stacklocation 86 where the path terminates. Furthermore, the method 124assumes that the bale collection path is limited by threeconstraints—namely, bale orientation, the machine's minimum turningradius, and the travel path profile of the machine. Additionally, themethod does not generate paths or path segments that require the machineto operate in a reverse direction (in other words, stop and back up).While stopping and reversing the direction of the machine's travel whencollecting bales may shorten the total travel distance and/or time insome situations, it may also contribute to machine wear, operatorfatigue, or both. Therefore it may be desirable to configure thecomputing device to consider only bale collection paths that can becompleted without reversing the direction of travel of the balecollection machine.

In block 126 of the method 124 a variable D is set to zero. The variableD holds a cumulative length of the travel path and increases with theaddition of each travel path segment. Next, N₁ possible first pathsegments are identified, as depicted in block 128, wherein each of theN₁ path segments leads to a possible first bale to be collected by thebale collection machine. The number N₁ of possible first path segmentsmay include all possible path segments to all of the bales depicted inFIG. 26 or, alternatively, only a subset of those path segments. Only anumber of path segments corresponding to a subset of bales closest thestarting point 88 may be selected, for example, with the understandingthat first collecting bales closest the starting point will typicallyproduce desirable results.

FIG. 27 illustrates N₁ possible first path segments (represented indashed lines) identified by the computing device according to anycollection constraints that apply—in this case bale orientation, minimumturning radius, and travel path profile of the bale collection machine.In this example the bale orientation limitation requires the balecollection machine to engage each bale on one of the broad sides of thebale. Thus, there may be two possible paths to each bale—one leading toeach of two opposing sides of the bale. An example of this isillustrated with bale 84 a, wherein a first possible path segment 130engages the bale 84 a on a first side and a second possible path segment132 engages the same bale 84 a on a second side opposite the first side.The N₁ possible first path segments illustrated in FIG. 27 do notrepresent all of the possible first path segments, but rather astrategically-selected subset of all possible first path segments—inthis case six path segments. The illustrated N₁ possible first pathsegments, for example, may be the shortest path segments from thestarting point 88. Analyzing a subset of only the shortest path segmentsfrom the starting point is one way of optimizing the method to find apreferred bale collection path without analyzing every possible path.

The computing device then determines whether any of the N₁ path segmentshave not been considered, as depicted in block 134. Each of the N₁ pathsegments will ultimately be considered, but block 134 will resolve “yes”until each of the N₁ path segments has been analyzed as a starting pathsegment for bale collection. If block 134 resolves “yes,” one of thepath segments N₁ not previously considered is selected, as depicted inblock 136. As illustrated in FIG. 28 a first path segment P₁ is selectedfrom the N₁ possible first path segments. Once the path to the firstbale is selected, the length of the path P₁ is determined and added tothe variable D, as depicted in block 138, where D₁ represents the lengthof path segment P₁. At this point the variable D will be equivalent tothe distance P₁ because it is the first path segment and no values werepreviously added to D.

Next, N₂ possible second path segments are identified, as depicted inblock 140. The N₂ possible second path segments represent path segmentsfrom the first bale 84 a to possible second bales. FIG. 28 illustratessix possible path segments that may be selected for the second segmentof the bale collection travel path. The possible path segmentsillustrated in FIG. 28 may be the shortest path segments available fromthe first bale 84 a to surrounding bales. Thus, a path segment to bale84 b may not be considered because the machine turning radius would notallow the machine to travel to the bale 84 b after collecting the firstbale 84 a without following a relatively long, circuitous path segmentwith an appropriate turning radius that would render the path segmentlonger than other possible travel path segments to bales in the vicinityof the first bale 84 a. Similarly, a path segment to the bale 84 d maynot be included if the bale cannot be collected while bales 84 c and 84e are still on the field due to the travel path profile of the balecollection machine.

Once the N₂ possible second path segments are identified, the computingdevice determines whether any of the N₂ possible second path segmentshave not been considered, as depicted in block 142. If none of the N₂path segments have not been considered (that is, if all of the N₂ pathsegments have been considered), the computing device decreases the valueof D by D₁, as depicted in block 144, and returns to the step depictedin block 134 in preparation for analyzing another of the N₁ possiblefirst path segments. If any of the identified N₂ path segments have notbeen analyzed the computing device selects one of the N₂ path segmentsnot previously considered, as depicted in block 146. FIG. 29 illustratesa second path segment P₂ selected from among the N₂ possible secondtravel path segments and running between the first bale 84 a and asecond bale 84 j. The variable D is increased by an amount D₂corresponding to the length of the second path segment P₂, as depictedin block 148. At this point the variable D is equal to the total lengthof first and second travel path segments P₁ and P₂.

The computing device then identifies N₃ possible third path segments, asdepicted in block 150 and illustrated in FIG. 29. The N₃ possible thirdpath segments are path segments from the second bale 84 j to possiblethird bales, and may be the shortest six path segments originating fromthe second bale 84 j to bales not already on the travel path. Becausethe first bale 84 a would have already been collected, the computingdevice may include possible path segments that pass through the locationof the first bale 84 a. The computing device then determines whether anyof the N₃ possible third path segments have not been considered, asdepicted in block 152. If not (that is, if all of the N₃ possible thirdpath segments have been considered), the value of the variable D isdecreased by the amount D₂, as depicted in block 154, and the computingdevice returns to the step depicted in block 142 in preparation foranalyzing another of the N₂ possible second path segments. If any of theN₃ possible third path segments have not been considered, the computingdevice selects one of the N₃ possible path segments not previouslyconsidered, as depicted in block 156. FIG. 30 illustrates a third travelpath segment P₃ selected, connecting the second bale 84 j with a thirdbale 84 b. The variable D is increased by an amount D₃ corresponding tothe length of the third path segment P₃, as depicted in block 158.

The computing device then identifies N₄ possible fourth path segments,as depicted in block 160 and illustrated in FIG. 30. The N₄ possiblefourth path segments are path segments from the third bale 84 b topossible fourth bales, and may be the shortest six possible pathsegments originating from the third bale to bales not already on thetravel path. Travel paths to certain bales that are relatively close tothe third bale 84 b may not be selected for consideration becauseconstraints may require the bale collection machine to travel anindirect path to the bales, resulting in those travel path segmentsbeing relatively long as explained above. The computing device thendetermines whether any of the N₄ possible fourth path segments have notbeen analyzed, as depicted in block 162. If not (that is, if all of theN₄ possible fourth path segments have been considered), the systemdecreases the value of the variable D by the amount D₃, as depicted inblock 164, and returns to the step depicted in block 152 in preparationfor analyzing another of the N₃ possible third path segments. If any ofthe N₄ possible fourth path segments have not been considered, thecomputing device selects one not previously considered, as depicted inblock 166. FIG. 31 illustrates a selected fourth travel path segment P₄selected connecting the third bale 84 b with a fourth bale 84 h. Thevariable D is increased by an amount D₄ corresponding to the length ofthe fourth path segment P₄, as depicted in block 168.

The computing device then identifies N₅ possible fifth path segments, asdepicted in block 170. The N₅ possible fifth path segments are pathsegments from the fourth bale 84 h to possible fifth bales, and may bethe shortest six possible path segments originating from the fourth bale84 h to bales not already on the travel path. In the particular scenarioillustrated in FIG. 31, one bale 84 i not already on the travel path isparticularly close to the fourth bale 84 h, therefore the computingdevice may simply automatically select a path segment to that bale 84 i,reducing N₅ to one and not considering other possible fifth travel pathsegments. The computing device may automatically select the travel pathto the bale 84 i because it is less than a threshold length, forexample, or because the travel path profile of the bale collectionmachine would not permit the machine to collect the fourth bale 84 hwithout also collecting the bale 84 i (or backing up, which the presentmethod avoids).

The computing device then determines whether any of the N₅ possiblefifth path segments have not been considered, as depicted in block 172.If not (that is, if all of the N₅ possible fifth path segments have beenconsidered), the computing device decreases the value of the variable Dby the amount D₄, as depicted in block 174, and returns to the stepdepicted in block 162 in preparation for analyzing another of the N₄possible fourth path segments. If any of the N₅ possible fifth pathsegments have not been considered, the computing device selects one notpreviously considered, as depicted in block 176. FIG. 32 illustrates aselected fifth travel path segment P₅, connecting the fourth bale 84 hwith a fifth bale 84 i. The variable D is increased by an amount D₅corresponding to the length of the fifth path segment P₅, as depicted inblock 178.

The computing device then identifies N₆ possible sixth path segments, asdepicted in block 180 and illustrated in FIG. 32. The N₆ possible sixthpath segments are path segments from the fifth bale 84 i to possiblesixth bales, and may be the shortest six possible path segmentsoriginating from the fifth bale 84 i to bales not already on the travelpath. The computing device then determines whether any of the N₆possible sixth path segments have not been considered, as depicted inblock 182. If not (that is, if all of the N₆ possible sixth pathsegments have been considered), the computing device decreases the valueof the variable D by the amount D₅, as depicted in block 184, andreturns to the step depicted in block 172 in preparation for analyzinganother of the N₅ possible fifth path segments. (In this example thenumber of N₅ possible fifth path segments is one, as explained above,and that one path segment has been considered, therefore the stepdepicted in block 172 will resolve “no” and the computing deviceperforms the step depicted in block 162.) If any of the N₆ possiblesixth path segments have not been considered, the computing deviceselects one not previously considered, as depicted in block 186. FIG. 33illustrates a selected sixth travel path segment P₆ connecting the fifthbale 84 i with a sixth bale 84 g. In this example the bale collectionmachine only collects six bales at a time, therefore after the sixthbale 84 g is collected the bale collection machine is full and thecomputing device determines a return path segment PR from the sixth bale84 g to the bale stacking location 86, as depicted in block 188 andillustrated in FIG. 33.

The computing device increases the variable D by an amount D₆,corresponding to the length of the sixth path segment P₆, and an amountD_(R), corresponding to the length of the return path segment P_(R), asdepicted in block 190. At this point the travel path is complete, so thevariable D and the final, complete travel path P will be stored forlater use, as depicted in block 192. The computing device then decreasesthe value of the variable D by the amounts D₆ and D_(R), as depicted inblock 194, and returns to the step depicted in block 182 in preparationfor analyzing another of the N₆ possible sixth path segments.

When the computing device returns to the step depicted in block 182,five of the six N₆ possible sixth path segments have not been analyzed,as depicted in FIG. 34. No possible path to bale 84 g is depicted inFIG. 34 because that path segment was already considered as part of thefirst travel path. Because some of the N₆ possible sixth path segmentshave not been analyzed, another path segment is selected as depicted inblock 186. A return path is determined from the newly-selected sixthbale to the stacking location 86, as depicted in block 188, the totaltravel distance associated with the bale collection path is determinedas depicted in block 190, the total distance and the path definition arestored as depicted in block 192, the value of D is decreased by D₆ andD_(R), as depicted in block 194, and the computing device returns to thestep depicted in block 182 in preparation for considering another of theN₆ possible sixth path segments.

The steps depicted in blocks 182 through 194 are repeated until each ofthe N₆ possible paths have been analyzed. Each time a path with adifferent sixth path segment is analyzed a unique travel path and aunique travel path distance D are generated. Each of these travel pathsand distance values are stored in computer memory or otherwise in amanner usable by the computing device, and may be in the form of a datatable similar to the table illustrated in FIG. 39. After the method hasperformed steps 182 through 194 for each of the N₆ possible sixth pathsegments, the question in block 182 resolves “no,” the value of thevariable D is decreased by the amount D₅ as depicted in block 184, andexecution of the method 124 returns to block 172.

The steps depicted in blocks 172 through 194 are repeated for each ofthe N₅ possible fifth path segments and for each of the N₆ possible sixpath segments corresponding to each of the N₅ possible path segments.After each of the N₅ possible fifth path segments have been consideredthe question in block 172 resolves “no” and execution of the methodreturns to block 162 as indicated in the flow diagram. Steps 162 through194 are repeated for each of the N₄ possible path segments and for eachof the N₅ possible fifth and N₆ possible six path segments correspondingto each of the N₄ possible path segments. FIG. 35 illustrates theremaining N₄ possible fourth path segments after the first of the N₄possible fourth path segments has been considered. After each of the N₅possible fourth path segments has been considered the question in block162 resolves “no” and execution of the method returns to block 152. Thisprocess continues until all of the N₁ possible first path segments havebeen analyzed with each of the N₂, N₃, N₄, N₅ and N₆ path segmentscorresponds to each of the N₁ path segments. FIG. 36 illustrates thefive remaining N₃ possible third path segments after the first one isanalyzed, FIG. 37 illustrates the five remaining N₂ possible second pathsegments after the first one is analyzed, and FIG. 38 illustrates thefive remaining N₁ possible first path segments after the first one isanalyzed. Each time the computing device selects a sixth path segment,it also generates a return path segment, determines the final value of Dand stores a path definition and D for later comparison.

FIG. 39 depicts the contents of a portion of an exemplary data tableused by the computing device to store and compare possible balecollection paths. A first column 196 includes a collection pathidentifier, which may simply be a number associated with each possiblepath. A second column 198 includes a path description, which may be orinclude a series of geographic locations describing the path. A thirdcolumn 200 includes a total travel distance (or other characteristic,such as estimated travel time) associated with the path. By storing thisinformation the computing device can compare characteristics of eachtravel path and identify a preferred travel path. The preferred travelpath may be, for example, the path with the shortest travel distance orestimated travel time as indicated in the third column 200. If thecomputing device follows the method depicted in the flow diagram 124 andconsiders six possible options for each of six path segments, the numberof possible bale collection paths in the table would be 46,656.

Using the method depicted in FIG. 25, the computing device determines apreferred travel path for collecting six bales and placing the sixcollected bales at the stack location. In one embodiment of theinvention the computing device identifies a collection path forcollecting six bales and, after the machine collects the balesidentifies another collection path for collecting another six bales. Inanother embodiment of the invention the computing device identifiesmultiple consecutive possible bale collection paths and compares thetotal travel distance or total estimate travel time (or othercharacteristic) of the combination of collection paths to identify apreferred bale collection path combination. By way of example, in thescenario depicted in FIGS. 26-38 and described above, the computingdevice may identify two consecutive bale collection paths each forcollecting six bales. In that example, a first possible collection pathis illustrated in FIG. 33. After identifying that path the computingdevice may then identify a plurality of possible second collection pathsto collect the remaining bales not collected as part of the firstpossible collection path. As illustrated in FIG. 40 the computing devicemay identify a plurality of first possible path segments leading to afirst bale of the second path. The computing device may follow themethod set forth in the flow diagram 124 and described above to considereach of the possible first bale collection paths and each of the second,third, fourth and so on possible subsequent path segments associatedwith each of the first path segments to identify a second collectionpath to collect the remaining bales. One exemplary second completed balecollection path is illustrated in FIG. 41.

Once the computing device has identified two consecutive bale collectionpaths, it adds the total distance or total estimated travel time (orother characteristic) of the first path and the second path and storesthe summed total. The computing device may determine a second preferredtravel path for each first travel path and store information about thefirst collection path, the second collection path, and the totaldistance or total time (or other characteristic) associated with thatparticular combination. FIG. 42 depicts information stored in anexemplary data table used by the computing device wherein a first column202 includes an identifier associated with the combination of paths, asecond column 204 includes an identifier associated with a first path, athird column 206 includes a travel distance (or other characteristic,such as an estimated travel time) associated with the first path, afourth column 208 includes an identifier associated with a second path,a fifth column 210 includes a travel distance (or other characteristic)associated with the second path, and a sixth column 212 includes the sumof the travel distances of the first and second paths. In the tabledepicted in FIG. 42, rows one through seven depict a first path (A1)coupled with several different second paths (B1-B7). There could be manythousands of combinations of paths involving the first path A1. A secondpath A2 is considered along with a plurality of different paths, and soforth.

The computing device identifies a preferred combination of balecollection paths with, for example, the shortest total travel distance.This method has the advantage of taking into account how a firstcollection path may affect a second collection path. The shortest orfastest first collection path, for example, may result in a long secondcollection path such that the combination of the first collection pathand the second collection path is longer than other combinations. Inthis example the computing device analyzes combinations of two balecollection paths, but the invention is not so limited. The computingdevice may be configured to analyze combinations of three, four, five ormore bale collection paths using the same technique set forth above foranalyzing two bale collection paths. Analyzing combinations of multiplecollection paths has the advantage of determining a best or preferredoverall bale collection plan taking into account multiple or even all ofthe required collection paths.

As explained above the method illustrated by the flow diagram 124 isexemplary in nature and other methods of selecting a preferred travelpath may be used and are within the ambit of the invention. While themethod described analyzes six possible travel path segments at eachstage, the invention is not so limited and more or fewer path segmentsmay be analyzed at each stage. By way of example, three, four, five,seven, eight, nine or ten segments may be evaluated at teach stage.Furthermore, the number of possible path segments evaluated at eachstage may be different, such as where more possible path segments areevaluated in each of the first three stages and fewer possible pathsegments are evaluated in each of the last three stages. Additionally,while the bale collection path includes six path segments plus a returnpath, bale collection paths with more or fewer path segments may beused. This may be required, for example, where the bale collectionmachine is capable of collecting more or fewer than six bales at a time,or where the operator prefers not to fill the bale collection machine ateach bale collection path.

As mentioned above the method depicted by flow diagram 124 identifies apreferred bale collection path that does not require the bale collectionmachine to reverse direction (that is, stop and back up or drive inreverse). The present invention is not so limited, however, and methodsof identifying a preferred bale collection path that does involve thebale collection machine operating in a reverse direction are within theambit of the invention. One example is illustrated in FIG. 43, where afirst path segment P₁ to a first bale 84 a includes only a forwardportion, and a second path segment P₂ to a second bale 84 b includes areverse portion 214 and a forward portion 216 such that the machinereverses direction (backs up) after collecting the first bale 84 a inorder to be in a position to collect the second bale 84 b.

In some scenarios it may be necessary for a machine to back up multipletimes during a collection operation, such as in the field illustrated inFIGS. 13 and 14. Bales 74 a, 74 b, 74 d, 74 e and 74 f are near enoughto the boundaries 76, 78 and 80 that a bale collection machine may haveto back up after collecting each one of those bales.

In the scenarios discussed above the bale collection machine engagesbales at the front of the machine only. In other scenarios a balecollection machine may engage bales at a front and a rear of themachine, such as where the machine is a tractor with one or more baleforks mounted on linkages on each of the front and the rear of thetractor. In those scenarios it may be necessary for the machine to drivein reverse to engage a bale using a bale fork (or other device) mountedon a rear of the machine. Embodiments of the present invention involve asystem and method capable of determining a preferred path for collectingbales that involves the bale collection machine engaging one or morebales in a reverse direction. An exemplary bale collection path isillustrated in FIG. 44 that includes a first travel path segment P₁traversed in the forward direction, a second travel path segment in P₂traversed in the reverse direction, and a return path segment P_(R) thatincludes a first portion 222 traversed in a reverse direction and asecond portion 222 traversed in a forward direction. In this example thebale collection machine holds two bales—one in a front of the machineand one in a rear of the machine.

In other scenarios the machine may be configured to hold multiple baleson the front of the machine, on the rear of the machine, or both. Inthose scenarios it may be necessary or preferred for the machine toalternate between the front and rear when collecting bales. If a tractoris equipped to collect two bales on the front and two bales on the rear,for example, it may be preferred to first collect a bale on the front,then one on the rear, then one on the front and finally one on the rear.This method may be preferred to avoid placing too much weight on one endof the tractor, which can be problematic for some machines. An exampleof this type of path is illustrated in FIG. 45. A first path segment P₁begins at the starting location and ends at a first bale 84 c, andcorresponds to forward movement of the bale collection machine. A secondpath segment P₂ begins at the first bale 84 c and ends at a second bale84 a, and is intended for the bale collection machine to travel in thereverse direction after collecting the first bale 84 c. A third pathsegment P₃ begins at the second bale 84 a and ends at a third bale 84 d,and is intended for the bale collection machine to travel in the forwarddirection. A fourth path segment P₄ begins at the third bale 84 d andends at a fourth bale 84 b, and is intended for the bale collectionmachine to travel in the reverse direction. A return path P_(R) includesa first portion 218 travelled by the machine in the reverse directionand a second portion 220 travelled by the machine in the forwarddirection. The bale collection path illustrated in FIG. 45 may be usedby a tractor to collect the first bale 84 c on a front of the tractor,collect the second bale 84 a on a rear of the tractor, collect the thirdbale 84 d on the front of the tractor, and collect the fourth bale 84 bon the rear of the tractor, in that order.

In some scenarios there may be a very large number of bales in a fieldto be collected, such as hundreds of bales. An exemplary field with alarge number of bales is illustrated in FIG. 3. In those scenarioscollecting the bales may involve using many bale collection paths andspecial techniques may be used to determine the preferred balecollection paths. An exemplary method is illustrated in the flow diagram226 of FIG. 46, wherein the bales are divided into subsets and onesubset is collected at a time. First, all of the bales are divided intoa first group of subsets of bales, as depicted in block 228. An exampleof this is illustrated in FIG. 47, wherein all of the bales in the fieldare divided into ten groups of twelve bales each. The computing devicethen determines a preferred bale collection path for each of the subsetsof bales in the first group, as depicted in block 230. All of the balesare then divided into a second group of subsets of bales, as depicted inblock 232. FIG. 48 illustrates the bales of FIG. 47 divided into asecond subset of bales different than the first subset of bales. Thecomputing device then determines a preferred bale collection path foreach of the subsets of bales in the second group, as depicted in block234. Finally, the computing device compares the preferred balecollection paths for each group of subsets of bales with the preferredbale collection paths for each of the other groups of subsets of bales,as depicted in block 236.

Comparing the preferred bale collection paths may involve comparing atotal travel distance required to collect all of the bales in a firstgroup of subsets of bales with a total travel distance required tocollect all of the bales in another group of subsets of bales.Alternatively, comparing the preferred bale collection paths may involvecomparing an estimated travel time required to collect all of the balesin a first group of subsets of bales with an estimated travel timerequired to collect all of the bales in another group of subsets ofbales. The computing device may select the group of subsets thatpresents the shortest overall travel distance or the shortest overallestimated travel time.

Embodiments of the present invention involve a system and method forselecting a bale stack location. A selected bale stack location maycorrespond, for example, to a stack location that allows for the fastestcollection of bales or the least amount of travel to collect the bales.In one embodiment, the computing device selects a preferred stackinglocation from a number of possible stacking locations. FIG. 49illustrates an exemplary field of bales and a number of possible balestack locations 238, 240, 242, 244 and 246. The possible bale stacklocations may be indicated by a user and may correspond, for example, toareas of the field that are level and easily accessible. To select apreferred bale stack location the computing device may determinepreferred bale collection plans for each of the possible bale stacklocations using for example, the methods set forth in flow diagrams 124and 226, compare the total travel distance or estimated total traveltime associated with bale collection for each of the possible stacklocations, and then select the stack location that corresponds to thebale collection plan requiring the least amount of time or travel.

According to another embodiment the computing device identifies apreferred bale stack location in a designated region without suggestedstack locations. FIG. 50 depicts the same field as depicted in FIG. 49,but instead of proposed stack locations the figure includes a designatedregion 248. The computing device determines a preferred bale stacklocation within the designated region 248 by, for example, analyzing thebale collection plan for each of a plurality of possible stack locationswithin the region and then selecting the stack location that correspondsto the bale collection plan requiring the least amount of time ortravel. Specifically, the computing device may first analyze a balestack location at one end of the region, then analyze a second balestack location a distance n from the first bale stack location, thenanalyze a third bale stack location a distance n from the second balestack location and so on until bale stack locations have been consideredfor the entire region. By way of example and not limitation, thedistance n may be within the range of one meter to ten meters.

When determining a bale stack location within a region, the computingdevice may take into account factors such as surface terrain, obstaclesand the anticipated size of the stack. FIG. 51 illustrates the samefield as FIG. 50, but with surface terrain and obstacle characteristicswithin the designated region 248. A first portion 250 and a secondportion 252 of the designated region 248 include surface grades thatrender them unfit for stacking bales. Another portion 254 of thedesignated region includes an obstacle 254, such as a building or autility fixture, that must be avoided. When determining a preferred balestack location, the computing device does not consider any stacklocations that would correspond to any of these obstacles or that wouldfall within a threshold distance of any of the obstacles, such as tenmeters. By way of example, the computing device may determine that,given the total number of bales in the field and the size of the bales,the final stack will be fifty meters in length and one and one-halfmeters in width. The computing device may use a rectangle of thosedimensions to simulate the stack and determine whether a location is fitfor stacking bales. If any portion of the rectangle overlaps anobstacle, or is within the threshold distance of the obstacle, thecomputing device rejects that stack location.

Once the computing device has determined a preferred path for collectingthe bales, it may present the information to an operation of the machineto enable the operator to follow the preferred path. By way of example,the computing device may present information about the preferred path tothe operator via the user interface 24, such as a depiction of the pathand a current location of the machine on the path.

Alternatively or additionally, the computing device may be configured toautomatically drive the bale collection machine along all or a portionof the preferred bale collection path using an automated guidancesystem. An automated guidance system may use the position determiningdevice 22 to determine a position of the machine, a map of the fieldincluding the locations and orientations of the bales, and thedetermined bale collection path or paths. One or more computing devices,such as the controller 20 may control movement of the machine throughone or more actuators to cause the machine to follow the one or morebale collection paths and to engage and collect each bale on the path asthe machine encounters the bale. The machine may use a combination ofsensors, such as the sensors 26, and actuators, such as the actuators28, to engage each bale and confirm that the bale has been properlyengaged and collected. Thus, this embodiment of the invention may beimplemented on a bale collection machine configured for fully autonomousoperation—that is, configured to operate without a human operatorpresent. Such a machine may not have an operator cabin.

Embodiments of the present invention relate to automatically determiningone or more preferred travel paths for collecting bales placed acrossthe surface of a field. One advantage of this aspect of the invention isthat it can save the producer valuable resources including time andmoney. The bale collection process currently involves an operatorrandomly collecting bales from the field without using a pattern orstrategy for collecting the bales. For producers who bale and collecthundreds or thousands of bales collecting the bales can be a long andexpensive process. By using aspects of the present invention to select ashortest or fastest travel path to collect the bales, operators couldsave hundreds of dollars in fuel and machine maintenance costs and manyhours of machine operator time.

Although the invention has been described with reference to thepreferred embodiment illustrated in the attached drawing figures, it isnoted that equivalents may be employed and substitutions made hereinwithout departing from the scope of the invention as recited in theclaims.

Having thus described the preferred embodiment of the invention, what isclaimed as new and desired to be protected by Letters Patent includesthe following:
 1. A system comprising: a mobile machine for collecting aplurality of bales dispersed across a ground surface; and one or morecomputing devices configured to- receive location and orientationinformation for the plurality of bales, the location and orientationinformation including a location and an orientation of each of thebales, automatically determine a preferred path for collecting the balesusing the location and orientation information, and present informationabout the preferred path to an operator of the mobile machine, whereinautomatically determining the preferred path for collecting the balesincludes- dividing the plurality of bales into a first group of subsetsof bales, the first group of subsets of bales including all of theplurality of bales, for each of the subsets of bales in the first group,determining a preferred path for collecting the bales, dividing all ofthe plurality of bales into a second group of subsets of bales, thesecond group of subsets of bales including all of the plurality ofbales, for each of the subsets of bales in the second group, determininga preferred path for collecting the bales, and comparing the preferredpaths determined for the first group with the preferred paths determinedfor the second group to determine a preferred plan for collecting all ofthe plurality of bales.
 2. The system as set forth in claim 1, the oneor more computing devices further configured to automatically determinethe preferred path for collecting the bales such that the pathintersects each of the bales in line with a particular bale orientation.3. The system as set forth in claim 1, the preferred path minimizingtravel distance.
 4. The system as set forth in claim 1, the preferredpath minimizing travel time.
 5. The system as set forth in claim 1, theone or more computing devices further configured to automaticallydetermine the preferred path using a starting location of the mobilemachine and a bale stack location.
 6. The system as set forth in claim1, the one or more computing devices further configured to- receiveground surface information, and automatically determine the preferredpath for collecting the bales using the location and orientationinformation and the ground surface information.
 7. The system as setforth in claim 6, the ground surface information including groundsurface slope, and the one or more computing devices configured toautomatically determine the travel path such that the travel pathintersects bales only on ground surface slopes that are compatible withoperation of the mobile machine.
 8. The system as set forth in claim 1,the one or more computing devices further configured to- receivegeographic feature information, and automatically determine thepreferred path for collecting the bales using the location andorientation information and the geographic feature information.
 9. Thesystem as set forth in claim 8, the geographic feature informationincluding machine travel limitations, and the one or more computingdevices configured to automatically determine the travel path such thatthe travel path does not violate the travel limitations.
 10. The systemas set forth in claim 1, the one or more computing devices furtherconfigured to automatically determine the preferred path for collectingthe bales using the location and orientation information and a stackinglocation of the bales.
 11. A method comprising: receiving, via one ormore computing devices associated with a mobile machine for collecting aplurality of bales dispersed across a ground surface, location andorientation information for the plurality of bales, the location andorientation information including a location and an orientation of eachof the bales, automatically determining a preferred path for collectingthe bales using the location and orientation information, and presentinginformation about the preferred path to an operator of the mobilemachine, wherein the step of automatically determining the preferredpath for collecting the bales includes- dividing the plurality of balesinto a first group of subsets of bales, the first group of subsets ofbales including all of the plurality of bales, for each of the subsetsof bales in the first group, determining a preferred path for collectingthe bales, dividing all of the plurality of bales into a second group ofsubsets of bales, the second group of subsets of bales including all ofthe plurality of bales, for each of the subsets of bales in the secondgroup, determining a preferred path for collecting the bales, andcomparing the preferred paths determined for the first group with thepreferred paths determined for the second group to determine a preferredplan for collecting all of the plurality of bales.